Card-index drawer



M. B. ONEIL.

CARD INDEX DRAWER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, 1919.

Patented Nov. 9 mm,

in Version zwwwrt e5 QWQ a; 3'

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. B. ONEIL.

CARD INDEX DRAWER.

APPLICATION FILED mama. 1919.

1,358,389. r PatentedNov. 9,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

27/5 -wza MA'IIJ'IBIIIZCIE: 3. ONEIL, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

CARD-INDEX DRAWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

Application filed December 8, 1919. Serial No. 342,073.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MAURICE B. ONEIL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at' New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card-Index Drawers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to card-index systems and has for its object the provision of means whereby the handling of the drawer containing the cards will be facilitated and the segregating of cards containing desired information will be expedited.

There is now in use a card-index system which employs a drawer or box to contain a plurality of cards which cards are perforated and also formed with slots so disposed that their positions in the cards will indicate information relating to the person or subject-matter entered upon the card or represented by the card. The front of the drawer or box is provided with a plurality of perforations corresponding in location with the perforations of the cards and constituting, in effect, a master card governing the use of the information cards placed in the drawer or box. A. plurality of rods or pins are also employed to be inserted through certain of the openings in the master card or front of the drawer corresponding to questions or inquiries to which an swers, are sought. After these rods have been properly inserted, the drawer is removed from the cabinet, if it be in a cabinet, and is inverted whereupon those cards in which slots are engaged by all the rods will drop below the cards in which some of the rods pass through perforations. Another rod is then passed through the front ofthe drawer and through small slots in the projecting ends of the cards which dropped so as to hold the said cards in their extended or projected relation to the main body of cards after thedrawer has been returned to its normal or upright position. These cards will all represent affirmative answers to all the questions or inquiries the user is seeking to answer, and obviously the system is advantageous inasmuch as the user is not obliged to separately examine all the cards in the drawer or box to segregate those containing the information he seeks, such segregation being accomplished mechanically and in a very expeditious manner. Inasmuch, however, as these drawers or boxes frequently contain a large number of cards and the weight therefore to be handled is very heavy, the work of withdrawing and inverting the drawer or series of cards is laborious, and it is a particular object of my invention to eliminate this labor an'daccomplish the segregation and projecting of the cards without requiring the user to sustain the weight of the drawer and the contained cards.

The objects of my invention are attained in such a device as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention resides in certain novel features thereof which will be hereinafter first fully described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure l is a perspective view of a unit embodying my improvements;

F1g. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken in a plane between the card-containing drawer and the casing in which the drawer is mounted, the drawer being shown in a partly extended position;

Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal section through the lower extensible slide,

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the bottom of the card-contain- 111%(11'2LW61;

ig. 5 is a detail longitudinal section through the rear support;

Fig. 6 is a detail section through the front wall of the case;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail transverse section through the extensible slides at one side of the drawer.

In carrying out my invention, I employ an external case or cabinet 1 which will preferably be constructed upon the unit sys-' tem so that any number of casings or cabinets may be employed together according to the number of cards necessary to the complete utilization of the system. The particular construction of the casing may be varied at will but the front end wall thereof should be in each instance provided with a circular opening 2 in which a ring 3 may be rotatably mounted, anti-friction balls 4 being fitted in suitable sockets or raceways in the circular wall of said opening'and in the outer eripher of the ring, as clearly shown in ig. 6. n the inner or rear surface of the ring 3 I provide a flange 5 which will project radially beyond the ring so as to engage in rear of the front wall of the casing or cabinet and thereby prevent the ring being withdrawn if the card-containin drawer should be carelessly or roughly use At the rear end of the casing 1, I provide a 6 disk 6 which is also mounted for rotation,

the center of rotation of said disk being concentric or axially alined with the center of the ring 3. To permit the said disk to rotate as easily as possible, I form at the center thereof a cup or raceway 7 about a central opening 8 in the disk and an axle pin 9 is held in the rear end wall of the casing and extends through the said opening and the said cup, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Bearing balls 10 are fitted within the cup around the axleand a cone 11 is fitted upon the axle to engage the balls and retain them in operative position in the cup. A washer 12 and lock nut 13 are mounted upon the inner end of the axle so as to secure the parts against separation and loss.

The drawer, indicated at 14, will be of proper dimensions to accommodate the cards employed and is supported for sliding movement within the casing, the ring 3 being provided with a central opening 15 through which the drawer extends. The front end of the drawer is preferably a metallic plate 16 provided with perforations 17 corre- 30 sponding to the openings in the cards contained in the drawer and equipped at its upper edge with a central notch or slot 18. Looking rods 19 are inserted through openings in the side edges of the plate 16 and extend through slots in the cards adjacent the side edges thereof so that the cards will be locked in the drawer and will not be permitted to drop therefrom in any position of the drawer. Rods 20 are inserted through selected openings 17 and extend through openings in the cards so that the cards may be segregated in the manner hereinbefore briefly pointed out. In my invention, the drawer is supported in the casing and held against entire separation therefrom by extensible slides which may be provided at the sides and at the bottom of the drawer. The outermost section 21 of each side slide is provided at its rear end with a flange or back 50 wall 22 through which suitable fastenings 23 are inserted into the disk 6 to secure the slide rigidly thereto. As shown most clearly in Fig. 7 the slide section is tubular and is preferably rectangular, the inner side being open, as shown at 24, whereby to accommodate a cleat 25 secured upon the side of the drawer 14. At its front end, the slide section 21' is constructed with a lateral flange 26 through which fasteners 27 are inserted 60 into the ring 3 to rigidly secure the slide section to the ring and it will thus be seen that the said section constitutes a connection between the disk and the ring so that the rotation of one will be necessarily transmitted 65 to the other. Upon the upper and lower walls of the slide section 21 are stops 28 which are adapted to be engaged by rollers or other projections 29 on the'intermediate slide section 30 whereby to limit the forward or opening movement of said section. The section 30 is similar in construction to the section 21 but is smaller so that it will fit easily within the said section 21 and may move longitudinally with respect thereto. This will be clearly understood upon reference to Fig. 7. The front end of the slide sections are open and the section 30 may project through the front end of the section 21 and also throu h the opening in the ring 3 as will be readily understood. Adjacent the front end of the section 21, rollers, indicated at 31, are mounted to aid in guiding and supporting the intermediate section and the said intermediate section is equipped at its front end with rollers 32. These rollers 32 serve as guides for the innermost slide section 33 which is secured rigidly to the side of the drawer. The said section 33 is of the same form or configuration as the intermediate and outer sections but is arranged reversely thereto so that the open side is opposed to the closed side ,of the intermediate section. Rollers 34 are carried by the rear end of the inner section 33 and the intermediate section is equipped with stops 35 similar to the stops 28 to be engaged by said rollers 34 whereby the drawer cannot be pulled from the casing to such an extent as to separate the several sections of the slide. The drawer is also connected with the disk and the ring at its bottom by a telescopic slide consisting of the lower section 36, an intermediate section 37, and an upper or inner section 38 which is similar in form to the sections 21, 30 and 33 but may be corrugated or otherwise reinforced so as to sustain the weight'of the drawer when the same is opened.

It will be readily understood that the plate 16, constituting the front end of the drawer, projects somewhat beyond the sides of the drawer and the front end of the slide section 38 is secured to the projecting portion of said plate, a handle 39 being secured on the front face of said plate at the lower I 39, as clearly shown. Extending from'the front and rear edges of the slide 41 are fingers 43 which are preferably spring plates having their ends curved so that they may bear upon the edges of the cards and ride easily over the same as will be-readily understood. It was frequently necessary when the drawer of the index system hereinbefore mentioned contained so many cards that they were packed tightly in the drawer to slightly jar the drawer by tapping it against a table or by striking upon the cards with some instrument. With my device, after the drawer has been inverted so as to permit the selected cards to drop below the remaining cards, the rod 42 is pulled outward and the slide 41 consequently drawn along the guide rods so that the spring fingers 43 will run over the edges of the cards and will separate them sufficient to permit the selected cards to drop below the mass of cards and thereby very quickly effect the desired segregation.

It is thought the operation and advantages of my device will be readily understood from what has been said. When the drawer is not in use it will be housed within the casing 1 but when it is desired to consult the cards the rods 20 are inserted in the usual manner and then, instead of lifting the drawer with the contained cards, the operator may simply rotate the drawer about its own longitudinal axis by applying the proper force to the handle 39. It will be readily noted that the opening in the ring 3 is angular and of the same outline as the cross section of the drawer but the corners of the drawer and of the cards may be cut away, as indicated at 44, so that the ring 3 will not be seriously weakened but will be strong enough throughout to properly support the drawer and withstand the shocks due to the rapid opening of the same. After the drawer has been thus rotated so as to cards are being examined' be inverted, the dropped cards may be locked in the described manner and the drawer then returned to its initial position and pulled out so as to permit the cards to be examined. If the cards should be so tight within the drawer that they will not readily separate, the rod 42 may be pulled out before the locking rod is inserted through the notch 18 but in either event it is not necessary for the user of the device to open the heavy drawer and manually sustain the wei ht of the same and the contained cards. oreover, it will not be necessary to remove the drawer from the casing in order to effect inversion and whether the drawer is 0 en or extended, it will be supported by t e'telescoping slides so that it w1ll not be necessary to provide a table or other article to hold the drawer while the My improvements may be applied at a comparatively slight cost and will reatly facilitate the work of the user whi e reducing the labor incident thereto.

Having thus described'the invention, what is claimed as new is: 1

1. In a card-index system, the combination of a casing, a card holder slidable into and out of said casing, and means for supporting said holder within the casing for rotatable movement therein about lts own longitudinal axis.

2. A card-index system comprising a casing, a drawer mounted in the casing, means for locking cards in the drawer while permitting relative movement of some of the cards, and means for rotating the drawer about its longitudinal axis whereby to segregate the relatively movable cards.

3. In a card index system, the combina-, tion with a casing, of a disk rotatably mounted at the back of the casing, a ring rotatably fitted in the front of the casing, telescop1c slides secured to the disk and the ring, and a drawer carried by said slides and movable through thering.

4:. In a card-index system, the combination of a casing, a disk rotatably fitted at the back of the casing, a ring rotatably fitted in the front of the casing, a drawer movable through the ring, and telescop1c slides each having one member secured vto the drawer and another member secured to and connecting the disk and the ring.

5. In a card-index system, the combination with an invertible card container, of means for permitting movement of some-of the cards while holding the mass of'cards relatively stationar and means movable under the bottom 0 the container over the edges of the cards whereby to segregate the relatively movable cards.

6. In a card-index system, the combination with aninvertible card container, of means for retaining the oards'in the;.-.container while permitting to drop when the container is inverterL-and a slide movable longitudinally in the -bottom of the container and having" a yieldable member adapted to run over the edges of the cards whereby to segregate the relatively movable cards when the container is inverted.

7. Ina card index system, the combination of a casing, and an invertible card holder slida bly mounted therein.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

MAURICE B. oNEin some of the cards a 

